Medications are commonly delivered in what are known as “blister packs” in which medications are placed in a series of blisters and then sealed on the other side by a foil layer. The medications are thus maintained in properly supported position in a hygienic manner in the individual blisters and held in place by the foil layer. In some, but not all cases, support is provided by a cardboard backing/overlay, formed of card which can then include printed information or other written information which identifies the medication and/or the patient.
Various designs and arrangements of such blister packs have previously been proposed including the different shaping of the openings and therefore of the blisters to provide particular effects. In particular Canadian Patent 1,310,936 assigned to the present applicant there is disclosed a blister pack of this type in which the openings are arranged in a matrix of seven rows and four columns providing four blisters each of which can be used for a respective day of the week with four medication administration times as defined by the rows, or, by four weeks of seven days for a single specific medication administration time. Thus a patient taking medications four times a day can be supplied with a blister pack of this type in which the medications for each time of day and for each day of the week are set out in the individual blisters.
Further details of this arrangement are shown in the above Canadian Patent issued Dec. 1, 1992, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Other arrangements are shown for example in U.S. design Pat. Nos. D296589 issued Jul. 5, 1988 and D293887 issued Jan. 26, 1988.
Blister packs of this type therefore make the medications properly available to the patient so that the patient can be ensured that they have taken the proper medications at the proper time. Reminders can be provided and the patient will be readily aware if a medication has been omitted since the medications not taken will remain in the blister pack.
As shown in the above Canadian patent, the dimensions of the individual blisters have been modified to provide larger blisters at certain times of day and smaller blisters at other times of day depending upon volume of medication commonly taken at those times.
A critical issue, however, is proper storage and convenient placement of the blister packs to ensure the medications are taken and not forgotten remains an open problem in that they merely may be discarded within the patients home. By not being stored in a consistent location or by being placed in an inconvenient location, or readily supported for the convenience of the patient or for the convenience of a caregiver looking after the patient may lead to medication non-compliance and a serious and potentially dangerous situation.
In addition, poor or improper storage may lead to medication degradation, or provide easy access for individuals not intended for the medications.
A number of different designs have been proposed of devices for holding blister packs and/or expelling of medications from blister packs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,984 (Romick) issued May 5, 1992 is disclosed a holder for blister packs with two overlying sheets between which the blister pack is retained with each sheet having opening aligned with the blisters by which the medications can be expelled though the openings. A cover extends over one of the sheets.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,840 (Van Dulleman) issued Nov. 25, 2003 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is annular and the holder defines a housing surrounding the outside of the blister pack with a dispensing plunger inside the annulus of the blister pack to expel the medications outwardly though an opening in the outer housing so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through the opening. The plunger and opening are rotated relative to the blister pack to select one of the blisters for expulsion of the medication.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,158 (Honan) issued Sep. 20, 1994 is disclosed a holder for a blister pack where the blister pack is rectangular and the holder defines a corresponding shaped housing with a-top and bottom and with a dispensing plunger at the top of the blister pack to expel the medications downwardly though the bottom so that the medication when expelled from the blister falls directly through a bottom opening. The plunger is movable along an S-shaped track across the top of the housing to interact with each blister in turn.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,187 (Poncetta) issued Nov. 29, 1994 is disclosed a dispenser for simultaneously dispensing medications from a stack of parallel, horizontal, overlying blister packs where a dispensing plunger with a cutter at the top of the blister pack stack is driven downwardly through an aligned column of the blisters of stack to expel the medications downwardly into a bottom container.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,051 (Preiss) issued Nov. 20, 2001 is disclosed an automated system for expelling medications from blister packs using a vertically movable plunger which pushes downwardly through the blister pack to expel the medication into a tray below the blister pack.